WAYNESBORO —The Greater Waynesboro Chamber of Commerce is on the move.

A decision has been made to move from the current Roadside Avenue office to a more central location near downtown in spring 2014.

“The chamber is on a path of rejuvenation,” Executive Director Jackie Mowen said. “As part of our strategic plan, we had been looking at where we want to be in the next 10 years and what kind of space we would need. We wanted a larger space, close to town, that could accommodate our needs today, as well as future growth.”

A long-range planning committee with the chamber’s board of directors has chosen the new location in the Gold’s Gym Plaza on Walnut Street. The space, which is currently vacant, is on the first floor of the gym building, adjacent to Montezuma Mexican Restaurant. The new location will provide triple the space the chamber currently has. The chamber will rent the office from Kevin and Suria Ryckis, owners of the Gold’s Gym Plaza.

“We are extremely excited for this opportunity,” Mowen continued. “This is a huge opportunity to continue to grow, and to better serve our members and the community.”

Bernie McGarity, president of the chamber board, said the chamber is “all about promoting business in the Waynesboro area.”

“Because that is our mission, we’ve grown immensely in the past few years in the services we provide to our members and to the community,” he added. “And because of that, we need larger office accommodations to accomplish our task.”

McGarity said there is no immediate plan for increasing staff, but it could be a possibility in the future. The chamber’s staff includes Mowen; Allison Schuchart, assistant director; and Jessica Watson, administrative assistant.

Promoting the chamber

The Greater Waynesboro Chamber of Commerce moved to the Roadside Avenue location from the former Toll Gate House on East Main Street in late 2006, after spending more than 30 years in the historic building it eventually outgrew.

“The chamber has been at this location for about seven years, and it amazes us how many people in our community don’t know where we are located,” Mowen said. “Some still think the chamber is in the old Toll Gate building. Our goal is to create a warm and inviting atmosphere with more foot traffic into the chamber. We want members to come to the chamber and take advantage of the tools we provide to help them succeed in business, as well as community members to learn about local businesses and events in our area.”

The chamber’s electronic sign, which was provided by the Rotary Club of Waynesboro, will remain in front of the Roadside Avenue office along Main Street to promote community events.

Page 2 of 2 - Schuchart said part of the new space will include a multi-purpose room where the chamber can hold seminars and workshops. It currently has to hold them at remote locations. Members and non-profit organizations will also be able to use the room for meetings and other functions.

“What’s also nice about the new location is we will be surrounded by chamber members, and the location will make us more visible to the community,” Schuchart added. “We want to make it more inviting to people to come in, and easier for them to get to.”

Chamber services

Waynesboro’s chamber works to assist local businesses in fulfilling their goals, and also acts as a center for community information. It offers a host of programs, such as mixers and breakfast and lunch meetings, to give its members opportunities for networking, professional development and personal enrichment.

The chamber also offers its members marketing tools to promote their business, group health insurance and energy-saving programs.

Since Mowen started nine months ago as director, the chamber has also offered the community a Chamber Card that promotes buying local by giving consumers discounts and specials at participating local businesses. Another program started recently was Traveling with the Chamber, which has a trip for members to Italy in March 2014.

“We are in the midst of creating new programs and services to better suit our members, and plan on launching a new website in March that will not only benefit our members more, but will be a good resource for the community,” Mowen said.